纽约时报 摧毁阿片类药物之际 普渡制药家族嗅到了新的商机(1)

In Devastation¹ of Opioids: Family Spied New Market

摧毁阿片类药物之际 普渡制药家族嗅到了新的商机

By Danny Hakim, Roni Caryn Rabin and William Rashbaum

文/丹尼·哈基姆，罗尼·卡琳·拉宾，威廉·拉什保姆

The Sacklers had a new plan.

萨克勒家族有了新计划。

It was 2014, and the company the family had controlled for two generations, Purdue Pharma,

那是2014年，因为公司高度上瘾的阿片类止痛药奥施康定的营销连年遭受调查，官司不断，

had been hit with years of investigations² and lawsuits³ over its marketing⁴ of the highly addictive⁵ opioid painkiller⁶ OxyContin,

萨克勒家族经营了两代人的“普渡制药”遭到了重创，

at one point pleading guilty to a federal felony and paying more than $600 million in criminal and civil penalties.

还一度承认犯有联邦重罪，并支付了6亿多美元的刑事和民事罚款。

But as the country’s addiction⁷ crisis worsened, the Sacklers spied another business opportunity.

然而，随着美国毒瘾危机的恶化，萨克勒家族发现了另一个商机。

They could increase their profits by selling treatments for the very problem their company had helped to create: addiction to opioids.

他们可以一边助长阿片类药物成瘾这一问题，一边出售治疗阿片类药物成瘾的药物来提高利润。

Details of the effort, named Project Tango, have come to light in lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York.

这一项目，项目名为“探戈计划”，的细节已经在马萨诸塞州和纽约州检察长提出的多起诉讼中曝光了。

Together, the cases lay out the extensive involvement of a family

这些案件共同揭示了萨克勒家族的累累罪行：

that has largely escaped personal legal consequences for Purdue Pharma’s role

过去二十年里，阿片类药物泛滥让无数人因为服用过量付出了生命的代价，

in an epidemic⁸ that has led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths in the past two decades.

尽管普渡制药对此脱不了干系，萨克勒家族的人却逃脱了相关的法律后果。

The filings cite numerous records, emails and other documents

这些文件引用了大量录音、电子邮件及其他资料，

showing that members of the family continued to push aggressively to expand the market for OxyContin and other opioids for years

它们纷纷显示，尽管该公司在2007年的一次认罪协议中承认，它歪曲了毒品的成瘾性和滥用的可能性，

after the company admitted in a 2007 plea deal that it had misrepresented the drug’s addictive qualities and potential for abuse.

但那以后的多年里，该家族的成员仍在积极扩大奥施康定等阿片类药物的市场。

The business potential of adding addiction treatment to the mix was illustrated⁹ in internal company charts and diagrams.

公司内部的图表显示了将成瘾治疗纳入其治疗方案的潜在商机。

"Pain treatment and addiction are naturally linked,"

“疼痛治疗和成瘾之间有着自然的联系，”

one Project Tango document, included in the New York complaint, said.

纽约的诉状所包含的一份“探戈计划”文件里写道。

It depicted¹⁰ a big blue funnel¹¹.

文件里还画了一个蓝色的大漏斗（来说明二者的关系）。

The fat end was labeled "pain treatment"; the narrow end was labeled "opioid addiction treatment."

漏斗宽大的一端被画上了“疼痛治疗”的标记；细窄的一端则画上了“阿片类药物成瘾治疗”的标记。

The company, the document said, could make money at both ends of the funnel as an "end-to-end pain provider."

该文件称，作为“端到端的痛苦制造者”，无论是哪一端，公司都可以获利。

Dr. Kathe Sackler, one of the eight family members sitting on Purdue’s board,

凯特·塞克勒博士是普渡制药董事会的八名家族成员之一，

instructed employees to devote "immediate¹² attention" to the effort,

马萨诸塞州的案件存档的一封电子邮件显示，

according to an email included in the Massachusetts filing.

她曾指示员工“立即投入”“探戈计划”。

The two lawsuits are part of a burst of recent litigation that has taken aim at the Sacklers,

这两起诉讼还只是近期集体爆发的一系列诉讼之冰山一角，

a far-flung billionaire family that has a network of trusts and companies in the United States and abroad.

这些诉讼都将矛头指向了势力庞大，国内外都有托拉斯和分公司的亿万富翁家族——萨克勒家族。

Their philanthropic gifts have built namesake wings

该家族不仅用慈善捐赠成立了同名的慈善网络，

housing the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan¹³ Museum of Art in New York and oriental antiquities¹⁴ at the Louvre in Paris,

收藏了纽约大都会艺术博物馆的丹都尔神庙和巴黎卢浮宫的东方古董，

as well as a library at the University of Oxford¹⁵ and a scientific institute at Columbia University.

还给牛津大学捐了一个图书馆，给哥伦比亚大学捐了一个科学研究所。

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

3 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

5 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

6 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

7 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

8 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

9 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

10 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

11 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

14 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

15 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。